The Brightline Thread

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

There has been talk about the large number of deaths on the Brightline corridor. How much of the line has been fenced to reduce the number of people accessing the tracks?

You can't install fence at a grade crossing, of which there are many. Not even the best crossing arms can fully prevent an idiot bound and determined to get him or herself hit by a train. Plus, you know, Florida.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

You can't install fence at a grade crossing, of which there are many. Not even the best crossing arms can fully prevent an idiot bound and determined to get him or herself hit by a train. Plus, you know, Florida.

Are the vast majority of deaths happening at grade crossings?

[CrazyCres]

High-Speed Las Vegas Train Back On Track As U.S. Reviews L.A. Extension

Brightline, the only private passenger rail company in the U.S., could begin construction of its high-speed train from Las Vegas by early 2023 as U.S. regulators start reviewing an extension that would connect it to a Los Angeles suburb.

The assessment could be completed by this November, allowing Brightline to finally begin construction of the project, with an aim of launching passenger rail service in 2026.

If the Brightline West project receives final federal approval, the Miami-based company could apply for potential low-interest funding options for high-speed rail included in the recently approved U.S. infrastructure program. Details of the types of federal support for private rail projects haven’t yet been released. The company estimates construction of the 265-mile, electrified railway from Rancho Cucamonga (which connects to downtown Los Angeles via an existing commuter train) to Las Vegas will cost $8 billion and take three years to complete.

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohn...h=7abad3406238

[Busy Bee]

I'm less concerned that this project won't get built and more concerned it won't get built correctly. The original Desertxpress FEIS was very promising in its specs and I'm leery this project under Brightline will cut every possible corner until it barely resembles acceptable HSR practice. I do hope I am wrong.

[ardecila]

Well, I think the key parts are in place. It will be a sealed corridor with no grade crossings running nonstop from Victorville to Vegas (with possible extension to Rancho as shown in the rendering). That alone should allow 125mph operation, which is still fairly quick if they can sustain that speed. Comparable to Germany's ICE, if not the TGV or Chinese lines. Over time I assume any slow sections can be upgraded.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I'm less concerned that this project won't get built and more concerned it won't get built correctly. The original Desertxpress FEIS was very promising in its specs and I'm leery this project under Brightline will cut every possible corner until it barely resembles acceptable HSR practice. I do hope I am wrong.

Although it has been the butt of many jokes, I think many people from the high desert communities of Victorville and Hesperia could commute to jobs in the Southern California basin via Brightline, transferring at Rancho Cucamonga.

[N830MH]

It's official!! Breaking ground on Boca Raton station.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/brightl...y8MmJf254FpyKg

[202_Cyclist]

Edens says Brightline high-speed rail project is ‘at the 1-yard-line’

By Mick Akers
Las Vegas Review-Journal
January 24, 2022

"Could 2022 finally be the year construction on the long-discussed high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California gets underway?

Wes Edens, co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group, which owns the high-speed passenger rail line Brightline through an affiliate, thinks so.

Edens said he expects to break ground on the project by the end of the year. This claim has been made before, but with plans to extend the rail line into Los Angeles now in place and the approval process moving forward, Edens said this time is for real..."

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/n...-line-2518090/

[kittyhawk28]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Well, I think the key parts are in place. It will be a sealed corridor with no grade crossings running nonstop from Victorville to Vegas (with possible extension to Rancho as shown in the rendering). That alone should allow 125mph operation, which is still fairly quick if they can sustain that speed. Comparable to Germany's ICE, if not the TGV or Chinese lines. Over time I assume any slow sections can be upgraded.

I'm not sure running in the I-15 median means those speeds can be sustained. Much of the curves on the I-15 are too sharp for even 125 mph service, considered the bare minimum for upgraded HSR and not even the standard for newly-built HSR lines. It's a real stretch I'd say to call this project HSR.

[Busy Bee]

The fact of the matter is we don't exactly know what is really being planned. The media reports continue to say things like 180mph but we know that Brightline applied to amend the original FEIS and detailed corridor plans with the FRA and agreements with Caltrans to increase the amount of median running. As you mentioned, the addition of median running will reduce curve radii which will lower operating speed. The shift in alignment also includes reducing the amount of cuts and ahort tunnel segments which I believe equats to an "over the top" at grade alignment at even steeper grades than were originally planned for under Desertxpress. This will also likely force a slower top speed.

[CHAPINM1]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

The fact of the matter is we don't exactly know what is really being planned. The media reports continue to say things like 180mph but we know that Brightline applied to amend the original FEIS and detailed corridor plans with the FRA and agreements with Caltrans to increase the amount of median running. As you mentioned, the addition of median running will reduce curve radii which will lower operating speed. The shift in alignment also includes reducing the amount of cuts and ahort tunnel segments which I believe equats to an "over the top" at grade alignment at even steeper grades than were originally planned for under Desertxpress. This will also likely force a slower top speed.

Clearly Brightline is nefarious for cutting corners and giving the concept of 'high-speed rail' a bad name all while over here in Asia and many other parts of the world, any mention of grade crossings or speed reductions would not even be given second thought. In Florida their trains have been playing demolition derby with cars and pedestrians and should anyone take this as a surprise? Yeah, the human element is what it is; however, it can't be ignored either. If the developers of Brightline are smart, they will learn from the mistakes of Florida and do it right this time with electrified trains truly running on a designated state of the art HSR system. Do it right or don't do it at all...

[UrbanImpact]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

Clearly Brightline is nefarious for cutting corners and giving the concept of 'high-speed rail' a bad name all while over here in Asia and many other parts of the world, any mention of grade crossings or speed reductions would not even be given second thought. In Florida their trains have been playing demolition derby with cars and pedestrians and should anyone take this as a surprise? Yeah, the human element is what it is; however, it can't be ignored either. If the developers of Brightline are smart, they will learn from the mistakes of Florida and do it right this time with electrified trains truly running on a designated state of the art HSR system. Do it right or don't do it at all...

There's literally nowhere to build a new rail line in South Florida that would avoid at grade crossings. Either the route from West Palm, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami would have to be elevated entirely or tunneled. The only affordable solutions is to use one of the two existing rail corridors that run north to south. The one running along I-95 already carries commuter rail and does not pass through the city centers or the freight line on the east more dense side, which is the one they chose.

[ardecila]

Clearly the solution to Brightline in Florida is for Floridians to just get used to living around trains.

In the Southwest, it looks like most of the curves on I-15 could support high speed operation with a tilting trainset and a high superelevation (not sure exactly how fast, but that technology has come a long way). They can't do this kind of thing on any line with significant freight traffic, but certainly can on passenger-only lines where the track geometry can be optimized for speed and not its ability to carry heavy loads.

Nobody else in the world would build a greenfield rail line with curves so tight as to require tilting trains, but (sigh) the US is different. It may be that the environmental mitigations required to leave the I-15 corridor are so expensive as to force this kind of compromise.

[Busy Bee]

Im curious if Caltrans will agree to broadening the curve of some directional lanes to allow the broadening of curves on the railway at certain turns in the corridor where there is center running. By definition it only requires one side of the divided highway to be modified.

[N830MH]

Heads up!!

Second BrightBlue just left from Sacramento factory. It's on the way to Florida now.

• Video Link

Get a camera ready!!

[SFBruin]

Delete.

[202_Cyclist]

Unfortunately, another person was struck and killed by a Brightline train yesterday.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/b...6va-story.html

[Busy Bee]

I hate to sound insensitive but Florida seems to be giving India a run for its money.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Im curious if Caltrans will agree to broadening the curve of some directional lanes to allow the broadening of curves on the railway at certain turns in the corridor where there is center running. By definition it only requires one side of the divided highway to be modified.

Possibly, but my impression is that this is being driven by CEQA and minimizing environmental impact. Changing the highway alignment would cause the same issues as building the railway outside of the highway alignment.

I don't think it's about Brightline minimizing costs - building a rail line in a highway median isn't cheap, due to limited access, limited room for staging and constant work for Maintenance-of-Traffic. But maybe the savings on earthmoving/regrading from using the median outweigh the added complexity of building between 4 lanes of 80mph traffic.

[Busy Bee]

I know it's too easy, but what environment??? My god it's a freaking moonscape.